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Second Battle of Champagne
The Second Battle of Champagne was a failed French offensive that was launched against the Imperial German Army in northern France from 25 September to 6 November 1915 during World War I. 450,000 French Army troops under Joseph Joffre and Philippe Petain took part in a massive offensive against the 220,000-strong German 3rd Army. Twenty French divisions faced six German divisions that were dug in, and the German front lines were broken in four places. Only untrimmed barbed wires prevented the French troops from advancing past their goals, although the French had suffered heavy losses. In late September and early November, the Germans launched counterattacks against the French, and the French forces were repulsed with heavy losses. Joseph Joffre's reputation declined as a result of the defeat, but he would remain in command of the French forces in World War I until 1916. Background At a conference held at Chantilly on 7 July 1915, the Allied countries agreed that they must take action together to put maximum pressure on the Central Powers. With Russia suffering severe setbacks in Poland and Italy engaged in offensives on the Isonzo, France and Britain realized they needed to mount a major offensive on the Western Front. However, they knew that attacking the German trenches was unlikely to achieve a breakthrough, as failures earlier in the year, both in Artois and Champagne, had confirmed. A window of opportunity arose when large numbers of German soldiers were transferred to the east for the onslaught against Russia, leaving their troops on the Western Front heavily outnumbered by the Allies. Battle French commander-in-chief Joseph Joffre's long-held plan for cracking the German trench system was to mount major offensives in Artois and Champagne, on the northern and southern flanks of the salient occupied by the German army in France. Joffre and British commander-in-chief Field Marshal Sir John French had a clear idea how the campaign might be won. Heavy artillery bombardment would devastate German trenches, allowing infantry to occupy the enemy front line, after which reserves would be brought through to continue the offensive in depth. Whether the commanders really expected to succeed is doubtful. Apart from the need to support Allies on other fronts, Joffre justified the offensives as essential to maintain morale. Otherwise, he said, "our troops will little by little lose their physical and moral qualities." British Minister of War Lord Herbert Kitchener told his commander-in-chief Sir John French, "We must do our utmost to help the French, even though by so doing, we suffer very heavy losses indeed." The plan unfolds The British, reinforced by the first volunteer troops of Kitchener's New Armies, held most of the Artois front with a single French army on their right. French forces were concentrated on the Champagne front, where they outnumbered the German defenders three to one. Joffre assembled over 2,000 artillery pieces for the Champagne offensive, including heavy guns removed from the forts at Verdun. After a four-day bombardment, the French infantry assault was launched on 25 September. Initially, the French offensive appeared to be a success, with German positions penetrated to a depth of several miles and large numbers of prisoners taken. But the Germans had constructed a second trench line 3 miles behind the front one and placed concealed concrete machine gun posts between the two. In this defensive zone, the French infantry was brought to a halt by German artillery and machine guns. By the time the French tried to renew the offensive on 6 October, German reinforcements had arrived from the Eastern Front by train and no further progress was possible. Category:Battles Category:World War I